WEBINARS

#HerDreamDeferred (2015)

In honor of Women's History Month and the UN Declaration of 2015 as the start of the International Decade for People of African Descent, AAPF, The Lawyer's Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, The National Organization for Women, Institute for Women's Policy Research, Black Women's Blueprint, PACE and other racial and gender justice leaders hosted a weeklong series of activities focused on elevating the crisis facing Black women.

Click on the different days below to watch the webinar presentations and learn more:

Spring Valley Is Everywhere: When Being A Black Girl Is Your Only Crime (11/3/15)

We are outraged by the unconscionable act of violence committed in a Spring Valley math class this past Monday. While we applaud the decision of Sheriff Lott to fire Ben Fields, we are deeply concerned that charges are still pending against two young Black girls. These teenagers are not only victims of police abuse, but also of the entire regime which includes the teacher who tried to expel student from class because of a minor infraction, the administrator who escalated the situation by calling the police, the law that permits students to be arrested for “uncooperative behavior,’’ and the criminal “justice” system that continues to punish two traumatized girls rather than apologizing to them and supporting them. That these two young women are forced to confront the emotional burden of being subjected to criminal adjudication on top of having been physically and emotionally abused is further evidence of how deeply entrenched and harmful this punitive approach to education is.

We know that violence against Black girls and women is not new; it is the same violence that brutalizedSalecia Johnson, Diamond Neals, Mikia Hutchinson, and Dajerria Becton. The vicious bodily assault on the young Black high school student is indicative of the ways that Black women and girls throughout society encounter state violence on a daily basis. This system extends beyond Spring Valley and threatens Black girls across the United States.

The Holtzclaw Trial: It’s Not Over Yet (12/16/15)

The Holtzclaw conviction represents a critical step toward visibility of Black women victims of state violence and rape. Some justice has been served, as Holtzclaw’s victims are now assured he will no longer continue his destruction. But we cannot forget that Holtzclaw preyed on and abused Black women in an institutional context that reinforces the idea that Black women -- especially those system-involved or further marginalized by class and ability status -- are not perceived as human beings who can be wronged, violated, and abused.

It’s on us to change the narrative and combat the erasure of Black women’s experiences from media coverage, activism and resources. Let’s use this unprecedented moment as a call to center to Black women, to recognize their humanity, and listen as they narrate their own experiences.

Visibility and Accountability Beyond the Holtzclaw Verdict: Confronting the Sexual Abuse of Black Women by the Police (2/19/16)

The day of accountability is coming soon for Holtzclaw -- the former Oklahoma City Police Officer will be sentenced on January 21, 2016 following his conviction last month of 18 of 36 counts of sexual assault. Holtzclaw’s preying on Black women in the course of duty came to light only after Jannie Ligons, a 57-year-old grandmother, reported the crime to the police. 12 more Black women told similar stories of being violated by Holtzclaw.

But Holtzclaw’s sentencing cannot be the sole focus of our efforts for justice. We must look beyond the verdict and focus on the intersections of race, gender, class, substance dependency and system-involvement that rendered the OKC 13 prey to a rapist with a badge. Countless Black women will continue to be vulnerable to sexual abuse by police even if Holtzclaw receives a life sentence.

Daniel Holtzclaw was not an anomaly. Approximately 1,000 officers lost their badges in a six-year period after having engaged in some form of sexual misconduct. And this is a gross undercounting of how many officers engage in such conduct. Few know that sexual misconduct is the second most reported form of police abuse because it is rarely addressed by the media and within our movements against sexual violence and police abuse.

We have to make this all-too-common form of police abuse visible.

Let’s join together to combat the intersectional erasure of victims of state violence and rape.

#FightForOurHistory: Standing Against Censorship in Henrico County (2/19/16)

As part of Black History Month at Glen Allen High School in Henrico County, Virginia, Professor Ravi K. Perry from Virginia Commonwealth University showed AAPF's Unequal Opportunity Race video. The video was shown to facilitate a discussion on racial inequality. Despite its accurate illustrations of historical events and contemporary racial inequities, the Unequal Opportunity Race has been demeaned as a "white guilt video" by a vocal minority in Henrico County and national outlets such as Fox News. Though that interpretation of the video is both misguided and unfortunate, Micky Ogburn’s reaction is far more disturbing. Denouncing the video as divisive, Ogburn, the School Board’s Chair, proclaimed that "school leaders have been instructed not to use the video in our schools.”

Since the outcry, AAPF and its leadership have been under attack through racist harassment by the public and through biased media coverage. The controversy has brought to the surface long under-addressed questions about the state of history education in the U.S.

Her Dream Deferred: A Week on the Status of Black Women (2016)

In honor of Women's History Month and the second year of the UN’s International Decade for People of African Descent, the African American Policy Forum, the Center for Intersectionality and Social Policy Studies at Columbia Law School, the Transformative Justice Coalition, National Organization for Women, Planned Parenthood, Black Women’s Blueprint, Institute for Women’s Policy Research, the American Association of University Women, YWCA, Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting, and other leading gender and racial justice organizations will sponsor “#HerDreamDeferred: A Week on the Status of Black Women,” from March 28-April 1, 2016.

Click on the different days below to watch the webinar presentations and learn more:

HER DREAM DEFERRED: THE STATUS OF BLACK WOMEN AND GIRLS (2017)

In honor of Women's History Month and the United Nations' International Decade for People of African Descent, AAPF will be hosting our third annual #HerDreamDeferred, a weeklong series on status of Black women and girls, at the end of March.

Over the past two years, AAPF has hosted Her Dream Deferred to amplify the voices and narratives of Black women and girls. This year, AAPF is excited to challenge the narrative by hosting dialogues that not only speak to the harms that women and girls of color face but also the tools to dismantle those structural barriers that plague them in their homes, schools, and communities.

Additionally, this year we are very excited to move beyond the computer screen to set up at the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles for three days (March 28th, 29th and 30th). The other two events will take place at Impact Hub LA (March 31st) and virtually (March 27th). All events will also be live-streamed.

Click on the different days below to watch the webinar presentations and learn more: